Paul’s letter to Titus may be one of the most important documents of Holy Scripture needed for our time. Paul wrote his letter during the middle part of the 1st century AD. We are living in the early part of the 21st century. That’s almost two thousand years apart, yet the circumstances in the church and in the culture are unfortunately similar. So similar, in fact, that every pastor in every church in the world should preach and teach Titus to their congregations exegetically – verse by verse – from the original language (Greek) – so that the members of their church understand exactly what the Holy Spirit expects from them.
I also believe that it is incumbent upon pastors and church elders to obey the Holy Spirit and do exactly as He directed Paul to direct Titus – “that you should set in order the things that are lacking.” There is a LOT lacking in many of today’s churches, denominations, Christian schools, Bible colleges, and seminaries. That means there is a lot that Christian leaders need to set in order.
That has been the purpose of this study of the Book of Titus, that we titled “Living Christian In ‘This Present World.’ We got the idea for the title from Titus 2:2 – “in the present age.” The Greek word translated ‘age’ is αἰών and speaks to “a space of time.” That time is now (present). The place is here (the world). Members of Christ’s Body alive on earth right now should “live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.” That’s a direct order from the Holy Spirit who inspired Paul to write those words to Titus and the church leaders on the island of Crete.
Final Message to Titus
Paul ended his letter to Titus as he often did in his letters – on a personal note:
When I send Artemas to you, or Tychicus, be diligent to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. Send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey with haste, that they may lack nothing. And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful. All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen. Titus 3:12-15
Paul “left” Titus on Crete to “set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you” (Titus 1:5). After preaching the Gospel on Crete and helping establish churches in various towns, Paul left the island and headed for other areas of the Roman Empire to preach the Gospel. He planned to “winter” in the city of Nicoplois and asked Titus to join him there – “When I send Artemas to you, or Tychicus.”
An Investigation
I am an investigative journalist in addition to being a Bible teacher. I’d like to put on my ‘journalist’s hat’ for a few minutes to share an important process we use:
- Follow the People
- Follow the Places
- Follow the Money
We’ll begin by ‘following the people and places,’ since those are often closely aligned. Paul mentioned several people in his closing remarks: Artemas, Tychicus, Zenas the lawyer, and Apollos. Paul is writing to Titus, so those are another two people we would look at carefully in an investigation.
When I send Artemas to you, or Tychicus, be diligent to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there.
Paul planned to send Artemas or Tychicus to Titus. When one of them arrived on Crete and taken responsibility of church oversight from Titus, Paul wanted Titus to “be diligent” to meet him “at Nicopolis.” Those were the two people the Apostle Paul trusted to take over from Titus, which tells us a great deal about each man.
Artemas
Artemas is mentioned only once in the Bible – here in Titus 3:12. His name in Greek (Ἀρτεμᾶς) means gift of Artemis, which may mean that his parents were worshippers of the goddess Artemis. It was a common practice at the time for parents to name their children after the gods or goddesses they worshipped. Artemis was a very popular goddess with the rural population of Greece. Romans worshipped a similar goddess named Diana.
The worship of Artemis probably flourished in Crete or on the Greek mainland in pre-Hellenic times. Many of Artemis’s local cults, however, preserved traces of other deities, often with Greek names, suggesting that, upon adopting her, the Greeks identified Artemis with nature divinities of their own. Britannica.com
The fact that Paul mentioned Artemas first may have been because of his closer proximity to Crete at the time, though that is a ‘possibility’ rather than a ‘probability.’ The text does not indicate why Paul mentioned Artemas first. We can be assured, based on what Paul had already written to Titus, that he viewed Artemas as someone who could carry on the work Paul had given Titus to do.
[Some church tradition records Artemas as bishop of Lystra, which was located near Iconium. However, there is no ‘early church’ evidence to support that tradition.]
Tychicus
The next name Paul mentioned was Tychicus – used five times in the New Testament:
- Acts 20:4
- Ephesians 6:21
- Colossians 4:7
- 2 Timothy 4:12
- Titus 3:12
Acts 20 described the home city of each of several people who ministered with Paul. Tychicus was included with Timothy and Trophimus and said to be “of Asia.”
In Ephesians 6, Paul called Tychicus “a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord.” In Colossians 4, Paul identified Tychicus as “a beloved brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me.” Paul wrote Timothy (2 Timothy 4) that he had sent Tychicus to Ephesus. It is obvious from these Scriptures that Paul trusted Tychicus to take oversight on Crete so that Titus could join Paul in Nicopolis.
Artemas and Tychicus are the only two people mentioned as taking oversight of the churches in Crete once Titus left for Nicopolis. However, Paul also asked Titus to “Send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey with haste, that they may lack nothing.” Who were Zenas and Apollos and what did Paul mean when he wrote, “that they may lack nothing”?
Zenas
We know that Zenas (Ζηνᾶς) was a lawyer (νομικός). He is mentioned only once in the New Testament, so we have no other biblical information about Zenas. His name translates as “Zeus given,” so it may be that one or both of his parents were Greeks who worshipped the god Zeus. Hippolytus of Rome, a Christian theologian of the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, numbered Zenas as one of the “seventy disciples” of Christ, and said he later became the bishop (pastor) of Diospolis. How he knew that information is not explained in a fragment of his writings titled, The Same Hippolytus on the Seventy Apostles. Whether Hippolytus’ information about Zenas is correct or not, it is obvious that Paul trusted Zenas and identified him as someone learned in the law.
Apollos
The name Apollos is mentioned ten times in the New Testament:
- Acts 18:24
- Acts 19:1
- 1 Corinthians 1:12
- 1 Corinthians 3:4, 5, 6 & 22
- 1 Corinthians 4:6
- 1 Corinthians 16:12
- Titus 3:13
We learn in Acts 18 that Apollos was a Jew born in Alexandria. We also learn that he was “an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures.” However, even though Apollos “taught accurately the things of the Lord,” he knew only the baptism of John. When Apollos arrived in Ephesus, he spoke boldly in the synagogue about Jesus being the Christ. The Apostle Paul had also spoken there, but had left two of his fellow ministers, Priscilla and Aquila, in Ephesus while he traveled to Jerusalem. Priscilla and Aquila heard Apollos speak in the synagogue. They took him aside “and explained to him the way of God more accurately.” They could do that because they had learned more about Christ from the Apostle Paul.
Apollos traveled to Corinth and spent some time with the church that Paul had planted there. That experience would later lead to some division in the Corinthian church about following certain “personalities.” The Apostle Paul dealt with that division quickly and decisively.
For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 1 Corinthians 1:11-13
And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:1-11
It’s obvious from these and other references about Apollos that Paul regarded him highly. Which is what makes his statement in Titus 3 important to understand. Zenas the lawyer and Apollos were on a journey, possibly together. Paul wanted Titus to assist them with any supplies they needed so they could get “on their journey with haste.” We don’t know where Zenas and Apollos were headed, but it was apparently important enough that Paul mentioned it in his letter to Titus.
Places
Next we investigate the places mentioned in the text. We already know a lot about Crete from our study from Titus 1, so the only other place mentioned here is Nicopolis. That’s where Paul planned “to spend the winter there” and he wanted Titus to join him as soon as possible.
We know quite a bit about Nicopolis (Νικόπολις) because Augustus Caesar built it. The Greek name for the city, Nikopolis, means “victorious city,” or “city of victory.” Caesar (Octavian) built Nicopolis in 29 BC after his victory over Mark Antony at the battle of Actium in 31 BC. Caesar made Nicopolis the capital of Epirus in northwestern Greece and resettled citizens from nearby cities to populate it. Nicopolis was known to be a good location for travelers to spend the winter months. Titus’ journey from Crete to Nicopolis would have been more than 500 miles across water and land. Though we have no biblical evidence to support that Titus did make the journey to meet Paul, it may have happened as Paul directed.
We know from 2 Timothy 4:10 that Titus had gone to Dalmatia after being with Paul for some time. It may be that Titus wintered with Paul in Nicopolis, then continued to travel with him up until the time of Paul’s imprisonment in Rome. Thus, it may be that Paul sent Titus to Dalmatia from Rome to evangelize and establish churches there. Titus may have possibly followed up with Christians from Paul’s earlier visit to the area of Illyricum (Romans 15).
Dalmatia is located across the Adriatic Sea from Italy in what is now the northern part of Albania. It also includes portions of Serbia, Kosovo, Croatia, Montenegro, Herzegovina, and Bosnia. Archaeologists have found the remains of ancient churches and the tombs of Christian martyrs in the area.
Follow The Money
As for following the money in this section, there is no mention of monetary exchange in this section. There is mention of Titus seeing that Zenas and Apollos were able to make their journey with haste, “that they may lack nothing.” Paul also mentioned God’s people in Crete meeting “urgent needs.” Whether money was involved in either of those requests is not mentioned, though money, food, and other supplies for travel may have been involved.
In Conclusion
Prior to Titus leaving Crete, Paul wanted him to emphasize this –
“And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful.” Titus 3:14
Those two primary areas for God’s people “to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs” sums up the apostles’ heart and desire for all of us. There is so much for all of us to do on earth in service to our Lord and Savior. Even as Paul asked Titus to be “diligent” to meet him in Nicopolis, and send Zenas and Apollos on their journey “with haste,” we also need to be diligent in our service. We must learn what it means to “Live Christian in this Present World.”
All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen. Titus 3:15
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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